One of the many things that makes Hawai'i special is its aloha spirit. But how do we extend that spirit into work environments comprised of people from various cultural backgrounds? Come join a panel of experts who have lived internationally, worked in a global capacity, or worked for an international company with a presence in Hawai'i. They will discuss their work/life experiences and share best practices by answering the following questions:

- How do you help employees new to Hawaii assimilate?

- How do you effectively manage and interact with culturally diverse employees?

- How do you adapt or influence talent development to be inclusive of multicultural diversity?

ATD Foundational Competency Covered:

Global Mindset

Who Should Attend:

Anyone who manages, trains, sells to, or works with people of diverse cultures in Hawai'i.

Panelists:

Patrick Powaser is an executive coach and business consultant, with a focus on leadership development, organization culture, & strategy and is an advisor to boards of directors and family-owned companies. Before launching Ho’ohana Partners LLC, Pat spent 25 years inside of Fortune 500 companies including Bank of America, Frito-Lay, The Limited, and Occidental Petroleum where he was responsible for leadership development, organization culture, professional development, technical training, change management and other initiatives that directly impacted business outcomes and employee development. He has worked around the world including North and South America, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Pat serves on the Boards of The Kauai Museum and Leadership Kauai. He earned a BS in Psychology from University of Wisconsin-Parkside and MS & PhD degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Iowa State University. He is a licensed I/O Psychologist in both Hawaiʻi and Texas.

Ai Tanaka is a Senior Consultant of Continuous Improvement, Organizational Development & Effectiveness at HMSA/Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawai'i. Originally from Japan, she moved to Hawai'i in 2012 to be a super aunty for her nephew, Aiden. At HMSA, she is responsible for providing strategic and transformational leadership to cross-functional teams for a variety of continuous improvement efforts in the company. Prior, she worked for an operations management consulting firm in Connecticut for 15 years, initially starting out in training & organizational development roles, then later consulting for small to Fortune 100 manufacturing clients across the U.S., Mexico and Russia to help improve safety, quality and productivity utilizing the Toyota Production System (TPS/Lean). Ai has studied abroad in France, holds an M.A. in Intercultural and International Management from School for International Training, and B.A. from University of California, San Diego. Ai splits time between Honolulu and Sapporo, Japan.

Verna Wong is the owner of Verna Wong HR Services, LLC, offering strategic organizational development and other HR services for companies based in Hawaiʻi. Prior to that, she was the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Hawaiian Host, responsible for the HR strategy, while overseeing HR functions for the company. She has also worked in Graduate Career Services the University of Hawaii, Shidler College of Business. She has also worked at DFS, an international Travel Retailer, in Talent Management.

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